It has been common practice to wrap the lower portion of a horse's legs during training and racing. The type of wrap which is generally used is similar to commonly found elastic bandages which are made of a knitted material and have a significant cotton content. However, as may be expected, the dimensions for a leg wrap for horses is generally significantly larger then that for humans, the horse leg wrap generally measuring 41/2 inches in width and 9 feet in length. The horse leg wrap serves a dual purpose, namely, cushioning and support. The bandage acts as a cushioning guard to prevent abrasions and minor contusions which result from common impacts which the horses encounter. The support aspect of the bandage serves to reinforce the leg thereby reducing the possibility of fractures and the like.
Although, these bandages have found wide acceptance and numerous variations have been proposed, two main problems still exist with the bandages presently available.
One of the primary difficulties encountered with this type of bandage may be broadly defined as application. First, in order to be effective the bandage must be stretched as it is applied so that it is tight enough to support the horse's leg but not so tight that circulation is limited. Secondly, it is also important that the bandage, which is applied in a spiral configuration, does not overlap to too great a degree as this would restrict movement of the horses leg. Added to this already sensitive task is the fact that the bandage must be secured sufficiently to remain in place while the horse is running. This latter problem has been difficult to overcome since the constant impact present while the horse is running imparts a substantial downward motion to the bandage. To prevent the bandage from slipping while the horse is running the frictional forces created between both the bandage and the horses leg and the bandage and other portions of the same bandage must be greater than the downward motion which is induced during impact. Recognizing this difficulty, a number of inventions have directed their efforts to protective boots or coverings for a horses leg which are simply strapped around the lower portion of the horses leg and do not attempt to provide the type of support found with the elongate elastic bandages previously used. Thus, while these leg guards serve a specific purpose they do not provide the type of support which is obtained with a wrap around bandage.
Another problem commonly encountered is the increased weight of the bandage when the horse trains or races on a wet track. However, since the safety of the horse is more important than the added weight this shortcoming has been accepted as being unavoidable. As previously mentioned the dimensions of the bandage for horses are relatively consistent and are generally necessary in order to provide the above enumerated benefits. Therefore, reducing the size of the bandage in order to reduce weight is not a viable alternative. Thus, it is commonly accepted in the industry that when a horse is training in wet conditions the leg bandages will simply become saturated. However, since it is important for the horse to wear the protective bandage the difficulties caused by a saturated bandage were generally not considered. In fact, studies which we have done on various bandages indicate that in wet conditions a bandage may increase in weight anywhere from 12 to 32 ounces which of course if multiplied by the number of bandages would result in a 48 to 128 ounce overall increase in the weight being carried by the horse. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that the weight is located at the worst possible point, namely the lower portion of the horses leg, and thus significantly hampers the horses performance and may lead to muscle strain.